Dear Lloyd,
I was informed that a new ROM Update pack was to be sent out. So I rang the
company on the Hotline where I was told that MGT was in receivership
— the company has run out of money.
To make things worse I found out that my parents had bought me a disk drive
to go with the Coupé. So I tried to use it and most of the programs on the
system disk didn’t work. The programs were littered with error messages
and commands that didn’t work.
I realised that perhaps it was because my SAM contained the old ROM and the
system disk used a DOS update and not 2.0. But with MGT in receivership there
was not much chance of getting hold of the ROM update package. I am lost.
James Knapman
James’ letter is just one of the many we have received
over the last few months from Coupé owners who simply don’t know where to
turn. This month CRASH has very good news for anyone in that situation...
Alan Miles and Bruce Gordon, ex-directors of MGT
plc, are back in business with a new company called SAM Computers Ltd,
or SAM Co for short. Miles and Gordon have financed the new company with
their own money, proving their dedication to continue providing support for the
SAM Coupé. SAM Computers Ltd will offer a rescue service for anyone who is
experiencing problems with their Coupé. Alan Miles explained that the company
has three main aims:
- To provide a full upgrade service. A new SAM Coupé upgrade pack is to be
produced featuring the new ROM chip, a new Spectrum emulator, new DOS and a
bunch of useful utilities created by technical expert Dr Andy Wright.
Accompanied by simple instructions for fitting the new ROM chip, the SAM
Upgrade pack costs £12.
- To create and control the publishing of new Coupé software. SAM Computers
Ltd is working closely with software house Enigma Variations to produce
a range of new software which includes a compilation of family games called
Mindgames. Further games in the pipeline include an adventure and a
shoot-’em-up.
- To honour the warranty. The SAM Coupé comes with a full one-year warranty.
SAM Computers Ltd will be taking over this warranty offering repairs for any
machines which break down within the warranty period.
For the moment the company can only deal with written enquiries, a phone
number is expected to be announced soon.
INSTANT HELP!
Each and every week you can find out the state of play with the
Coupé with a new phone-in news service. The SAM Coupé Hotline, which
was launched in August, offers hints, tips and news and is updated every week.
All the information comes from SAM Computers Ltd bosses Alan Miles and Bruce
Gordon so you can be guaranteed access to the latest information as it
happens!
WHAT’S THAT S?
You spotted something yet? Hummm, take another look at the name
for Miles and Gordon’s new company. SAM Computers Ltd. Yeah, Computers.
Could this indicate that a new product could be coming from the recently
formed company? It was suggested at an industry conference that a new SAM
product was being worked on but Alan Miles is saying little: ‘That S
is not supposed to intentionally imply anything, though we would like to
create new products in the future.’
CRASH will be keeping its proverbial ear to the ground.
ASSEMBLY LINE
Calling all programming boffins! SC-Assembler Version 1.1
is now available for the Coupé. Designed to help you create machine code
programs, SC-Assembler boasts three impressive features: it does not use the
SAM ROM so it is compatible with future upgrades, it has a complex editor which
makes altering and listing source easy and additionally, a program, when
assembled and compressed, takes up half as much space in memory than usual. If
you’re machine code minded you can get details of SC-Assembler from
Steve’s Software.
NEW EDITIONS
A new SAM Coupé software service has been launched by a small
company called Zenith Graphics. It’s called Edition One
and it’s a disk or cassette packed with software for the SAM Coupé. It costs
£7 and features three SAM games, utilities, graphic demos and 16
Flash! screens. You can discover more from Jonathan Langford, Zenith
Graphics.
DEFENDER WINNER?!
A letter from Adrian Siddall plopped onto the SAM desk
this month. Adrian says he claims the honour of being the first person to
complete the SAM Coupé’s one and only game Defenders of the
Earth. He finished it on Thursday June 29 at 11.40 with a high score of
188,200 — does this make him first? If you know different, drop us a
line with your score, the finishing message, the date and time you completed
the game (with a signed declaration from an honest bod!) to the usual address
and we’ll try to discover the person who completed the first Coupé game
first!!
Don’t forget, we want to hear from you! Send your letters,
queries, tips and opinions to NEWSFIELD, LLOYD’S SAM FORUM, CRASH. More
on the world of SAM next issue!